Doubt

2008

Action / Drama / Mystery

Synopsis

It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the school's strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear-based discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequences.

It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the school's strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear-based discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequences.

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by yana-071317 / 10

A good drama movie

I'm not a drama-lover, hardly any drama movie I managed to watch more that 20 minutes without falling asleep. This movie definitely won't let you take your eyes off the screen. The tension that's created by uncertainty and ambiguity of events holds your attention during the entire movie. The cast is absolutely well chosen, including one of the best actresses of all times Meryl Streep. It's exciting the way your opinion changes like a roller-coaster every time new facts of the story are revealed. The movie leaves you with a heavy heart after it's over and makes you reconsider many issues. If you doubt whether it's worth watching, at least this is a good reason to make a choice in favour of a thought-provoking-movie that's gonna probably change your whole perception of justice and guilt.
I would insist that this movie must be watched by people responsible for making decisions relating to other people. Accusation must have a valuable, facts-supported basis, but sometimes your intuition and inner belief overpowers. What would you stick to?

Reviewed by reebokpercent9 / 10

Anyway the wind blows

'Doubt' is a gripping psychological drama with incomparable Meryl Streep and brilliant Philip Seymour Hoffman in the leads. The film is directed by John Patrick Shanley and based on his own Pulitzer-Prize winning stage play of the same name.
Before watching the film you may be attracted by the film poster with a cross (a symbol of faith) and the word 'doubt' depicting on it, what immediately hooks you due to combining two mutually exclusive concepts. Actually the whole film is based on opposition and proves how controversial can be issues of Good and Evil looked at from different perspectives.
It is natural for humans to doubt. It is a result of their capability of speculation and their innate desire to find the truth. However, there are cases when not everyone is "allowed" to doubt due to some personal moral convictions or some restrictions from outside. That's what happens to the main character of the picture, the head nun, Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), who dares to call in question righteousness of the priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) suspecting him of sexual relationship with one of the students of the Catholic school. Her suspicion is neither confirmed for the lack of evidence, nor refuted, but the seed of doubt is already implanted in our minds as well as in the mind of a younger nun, Sister James, wonderfully portrayed by graceful Amy Adams. She observes this opposition between "the prosecutor" and "the accused" and with childish naivety tries to find absolute truth, which is non-existent in the context of the film.
Particular attention should be given to excellent acting of Meryl Streep, who perfectly suits the role of a self-possessed principal, running the school in an imperious and domineering manner. Her conservatism seems to be on the verge of absurdity, from prohibition on ballpoint pens and candies to total control of the students (episode with the portrait on the blackboard). So, in comparison with Father Flynn, whose appearance is as "sweet" as his tea and whose deeds and speech are always alarmingly good, Sister Aloysius looks like a true oppressor. However, such an image of her somehow fades as the film progressed. It is she who takes care of her whole nuns' community in the male-dominated environment. Those touchy moments, when she displays particular concern for the elderly Sister Veronica who is going blind, just testify that she is a perfect leader: tough but considerate. A true venerator of traditions Sister Aloysius has a genuine fear of changes, which are brought to Bronx Catholic School with the wind of 1964. Her remark about the weather 'the world is crashing' becomes pivotal for the whole film and even more crucial for herself. In attempts to stop liberalism that starts shifting firm conservative views, the head nun crosses swords with the priest, considering him a disseminator of destructive liberal views. But in the end, ironically, she finds herself doubting her own longstanding believes, realizing that values of the modern world are no longer the same, and that something, once used to be totally unacceptable, today is quite adequate.
No doubt, the film is worth seeing! Brilliant performance of all leads alongside with the riveting plot will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat.

Reviewed by evseeva_j10 / 10

Great characters brought to life by great ensemble of actors.

Doubt is a wonderful drama film based on John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt: A Parable. Set in a Bronx Catholic school in the mid 1960s, Doubt explores the conflict between Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the strict and conservative principal of the school, and Father Brendan Flynn, a priest whom Sister Aloysius accuses of having sexual relationships with the school's first black student, Donald Miller.

Doubt is all about faith, judgement, suspicion, and of course, doubt.

The story is mostly told through dialogue. In some of the films that I've watched dialogues could really bore me to death, but the ones in Doubt never did. On the contrary, it was the dialogues that didn't allow me to take my eyes off the screen; it was the dialogues that with every word, every sentence, every scene made the characters more convincing and put a seed of doubt into my head.

It's impossible to imagine a cast that would give a more powerful performance, connect with their characters and express such a great range of emotions any better that those four did. Meryl Streep. When this name just appears on the horizon, no further words are necessary. It speaks for itself and it says, 'Where there is Meryl Streep, there is perfection and power'. Philip Seymour Hoffman is incredible. The scenes between the two of them are thrilling, their emotional fight is riveting. Amy Adams wonderfully portrays a naive and childlike adult. Viola Davis is only in one scene (as the boy's mother, Mrs Miller), but it doesn't stop her from giving a strong and touching performance. I waited for her to appear in more scenes because it wasn't enough for me but, obviously, I have to witness her incredible talent on How to Get Away with Murder.

The scenery, generally dark and uninviting, matches the general mood of the film and adds to its tense and gloomy atmosphere. Even the ringing phone adds tension. But what I liked is that the story allows some breaks from the seriousness of the subject matter. When Sister James, for example, declares her love of Frosty the Snowman, you can't but smile, or when the students learn to dance, you start tapping your foot to the rhythm and for a minute forget about the main conflict.

What's interesting is that not only Meryl Streep's character has doubts when the matter seems to be solved, but we are also left in doubt after watching this film. We don't know for sure why Sister Aloysius wants so desperately to get rid of Father Flynn (perhaps, she despises him for being so progressive or she just wants to protect the student), as well as we have no proof that Father Flynn is actually guilty. And this kind of an open ending allows us to think about and dwell on that, to find out if doubt is a part of our nature and what it does to us. Not many films in today's film industry give us such an opportunity, so we should thank John Patrick Shanley, the director of this amazing film, for that.

Don't doubt whether you must watch this film or not. But be sure that it will leave you doubting.